From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: * X-Spam-Status: No, score=1.1 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_05,REPLYTO_WITHOUT_TO_CC autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,19812cdb56d31fbd X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 1995-01-31 07:04:26 PST Path: swrinde!hookup!newshost.marcam.com!news.mathworks.com!uunet!newsgate.watson.ibm.com!watnews.watson.ibm.com!ncohen From: ncohen@watson.ibm.com (Norman H. Cohen) Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: Ada 9X Doc v5.99 Date: 31 Jan 1995 14:39:03 GMT Organization: IBM T.J. Watson Research Center Distribution: world Message-ID: <3gli27$met@watnews1.watson.ibm.com> References: <3gbs98$47f@network.ucsd.edu> <3gdhj5$1gbk@info4.rus.uni-stuttgart.de> <3ghrpo$2g4@gnat.cs.nyu.edu> <3gk7tl$d7h@infomatch.com> Reply-To: ncohen@watson.ibm.com NNTP-Posting-Host: rios8.watson.ibm.com Date: 1995-01-31T14:39:03+00:00 List-Id: In article <3gk7tl$d7h@infomatch.com>, celier@infomatch.com (celier) writes: |> The grade (100 grade in one right angle instead of 90 degrees) was an |> attempt to be more "decimal" in angles but it failed miserably. It had |> the advantage that one centigrade of latitude was exactly oe kilometre |> (well, on the average). |> |> Trying to get rid of the values of the degree, the hour or the minute |> is as difficult as to get rid of the base 10, which in fact is not a |> "rational" base. Shortly after the French Revolution, France did try to decimalize time: 20 "decimal hours" in a day (ten a.m. hours and ten p.m. hours, each equal to 1.2 conventional hours), 100 "decimal minutes" (each equal to 0.72 conventional minutes, or 43.2 seconds) in a decimal hour, 100 parts (each equal to 0.432 seconds) in a decimal minute. There were even clocks built for this system. |> The "rational" base should be 11 or 12: 11 if you want to minimize the |> divisors of the base, 12 if you want to maximize them. 8 is too small |> and 16 is too high. Of course, we will never change the number base 10. The English system of liquid measures is based on powers of two: Eight ounces in a cup, two cups in a pint, two pints in a quart, four quarts in a gallon. (I guess this was so that the Brewer Royal could implement conversion between units as left and right shifts. :-) ) -- Norman H. Cohen ncohen@watson.ibm.com